


I'll Be There For You

by ClydeW



Category: The Legend of Zelda
Genre: F/M, Fluff and Angst, Gender-Neutral Pronouns, M/M, Sad with a Happy Ending, Self-Doubt, Self-Harm, basically link finds out that you've self harmed, being stubborn
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-30
Updated: 2020-05-30
Packaged: 2021-03-02 19:41:57
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,185
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24452302
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ClydeW/pseuds/ClydeW
Summary: When you both make a trip to the desert, things go sideways when you have to wear short sleeves. Link tries to make it all okay though.
Relationships: Link/Reader
Comments: 5
Kudos: 113





	I'll Be There For You

**Author's Note:**

> !!DESCRIPTIONS OF SELF HARM TW!!  
> It doesn't go into too much detail, but still please be cautious if mentions of self harm is triggering to you!!
> 
> I know I usually do a lot of self harm related fics, but they really help me so I figured that they can maybe help someone else too. I am working on something else though that shouldn't be as sad as these usually are ^-^
> 
> Comments & Kudos are appreciated!!

Link had refused to venture onwards without you, claiming that it was too dangerous to just leave you in the cave you two were staying in for the night, but you knew where he was going, and why you would have to find a way for him to leave you behind. You had to.

“What if I just head to a nearby village? There's got to be one close by that I can just stay at until you get back,” you suggested. He shook his head.

“Closest village is a two-day trip, at least. And besides,” he stopped mid-sentence to check that everything was packed up from the night before. “It's not like I'd ever let anything happen to you. You're safer with me.”

You sighed in defeat. Bouncing suggestions off of him for the last hour was getting you nowhere and you knew it. You grabbed your backpack and followed him out of the cave, running excuses through your head in case your ‘worst-case scenario’ unfolded into reality. 

\----------

The closer you got to the desert the more you could feel the temperature difference. The heat was unbearable during the day, and the air felt just like the air at the top of Lanayru mountain during the night. You two had made it to the stable that stood between the desert sands and the rest of the world, and LInk had decided to stay there for a few days to tackle some jobs, and also to figure out how you two were going to make it all the way to Gerudo Town without dying from heat exhaustion. It was your second day there when someone had rewarded Link with a couple of hydromelons for completing the task they had given him. He was thrilled. He had prepared a couple of meals for the two of you as soon as he had a free moment. You sat next to the cooking pot watching him, holding down the anxiety that bubbled inside of you. 

\----------

“I'm fine Link, really.” you lied to him through your teeth again. He just looked at you with worry written all over his face. Walking through the dunes of sand was a lot harder than you had anticipated. The chilly meals had helped, but it still felt like the sun was trying to cook you from the inside out. Link had made due, pulling as much hair as he could into his ponytail to get it off of his neck and changing into the thinnest clothes he had while taking the majority of his armor off. You, on the other hand, had only pulled your hair into a high ponytail like his but kept your regular explorer clothes on. Long sleeves and all. Link had tried to get you to change, asking you multiple times if you were sure you were okay. You lied to him every time. Truth be told you felt less like a human and more like a piece of meat being roasted over an open flame. You thought you could handle it, but you were sorely mistaken. Sweat dripped from, well, from everywhere on you, and your vision was going blurry. No amount of water helped either. But when the hills of sand started to move like water and suddenly you were seeing three of Link you decided you could only take so much.

“Link...wait…” you stopped, almost falling over. You held your arms out to your sides to balance yourself. Link didn't wait for you to say anything else and grabbed your hands. He slowly guided you over to below a nearby rock overhang. Being in the shade instantly felt better, and once Link helped you sit down onto the cool rock your vision stopped playing tricks on you. Link moved closer to you, reaching for the clasps of your armor around your wrists. You jerked away from him when you felt his fingers brush against your skin. He looked at you in surprise, and you slowly returned the gaze.

“No…” was all you were able to say to him. You might as well have swallowed a handful of sand with the way your mouth felt.

“(Y/N) you need to take off something. You’ll overheat with all that gear on.” Link replied firmly. You looked at Link again, a mix of emotions, mostly worry, coated his eyes. Link just smiled softly, trying his best to convey that he wasn't going to judge you for anything as best as he could without words. You bit your lip as you looked away from him and focused on trying to take off your armor. Your shaky hands were of no use, however.

“Here, let me help.” Link said as he scooted closer once more and reached for your bracer. This time you didn't pull away from his touch. He glanced at you every few moments while he removed your armor but you never returned the gaze.

“There.” he breathed as he sat back on his feet. All the pieces of your armor now laid in a small pile next to the two of you, along with the sword and shield Link had dropped when he helped you over to the upturned rock.

“Now how about we trade out that long-sleeved shirt for one of my tee shirts?” Link offered with a smile. Not having all of that armor on you did help a lot with the heat, but it still felt like the inside of Death Mountain to you, and Link’s offer did sound nice. You looked at Link, who now held a clump of red fabric in his hands, chewing on your lip. You knew there was no arguing out of this one so you gently took the shirt from him. You looked between the shirt in your hands and up at Link, a hesitant look splayed across your face. Not wanting to cause you any more uncomfortableness than you were currently in, Link turned himself around, facing the sea of sand instead of looking at you while you changed shirts. When he saw your shirt being thrown into the pile with your armor from the corner of his eye he knew it was okay to turn back around. Having the air touch your arms was both a blessing and a curse. Not having the fabric sticking to the entire length of your arm felt nice, the hot air wasn’t pleasant, but it was better than a non-breathable second layer of skin. But it felt foreign to you. You hadn’t worn anything but a long-sleeved shirt since before you started traveling with Link. 

When Link turned back around, however, he was in for a surprise. You looked down at your hands, trying to look anywhere but at the blonde in front of you, while he stared at you, his face holding a puzzled expression. White bandages wrapped down your arm, from your elbow down to your wrist. Link tried to think of a logical answer for what he was seeing but ultimately couldn't find one. He couldn't remember ever seeing the bandages before and didn't remember you ever getting hurt in a fight there. He would know if you had, for he always patched up any wounds you got while exploring, but he didn't recall ever fixing up your wrists. He tried to ask you what the bandages were from, but the words were caught in his throat. So instead he opted for a more practical solution for both of your problems. Silently he gathered the things that you had discarded off of your person and packed them into his bag. He holstered his sword and shield and held out his hand to where you still sat. you looked up at him, and he smiled. You swore you could see a hint of sadness in his eyes, but regardless you grabbed his hand. He pulled you up off of the rock bed and held on to your hand. He gave it a reassuring squeeze before you two walked off to the nearby Bazaar. This time with less risk of heat exhaustion.

\----------

When you two made it to the Kara Kara Bazaar Link went into the hotel to pay for a bed for the night while he left you outside to peruse through the shops. You were staring at the produce laid out by the local foods shop when Link returned to you.

“Link. I've never seen these types of fruits anywhere before. Think they only grow in the desert?” you asked him once he was near you. He just nodded, smiling sincerely. He never liked to speak when a lot of people were around. He reached into one of his pockets for a moment, and pulled out a handful of rupees, handing them to you.

“Don’t you think they’re better things to spend our money on?” you questioned him, but he shook his head and silently insisted that you take the rupees from him. You hesitantly took them from his hands. He smiled once more before turning and walking off towards another merchant, most likely to sell the things you two didn’t need. You turned back towards the produce merchant in front of you.

“Um...I'll take some of your palm fruits.” You said to the Gerudo woman. Sure, you always had to be Link’s voice, but that didn’t mean that you weren’t nervous talking to new people for the first time.

“How many would you like?” She asked.

“Just two please,” you responded.

“That’ll be 32 rupees.” you counted out and handed her the exact amount of rupees, gently grabbing the fruit from the stand.

“Sarqso,” she said to you as you stored the fruit away for later. You just smiled sweetly and nodded a little, hoping Link could translate for you later when you two were alone. When you turned around you quickly found Link across the small oasis, selling what looked like to be monster parts to Beedle. You smiled to yourself and headed over to the pool of water. It was completely clear and had a few fish swimming around freely in it. Your eyes followed one fish who was swimming around in small circles when Link came over to stand by you.

“Traded monster parts for some arrows I hope?” you asked him, trying to make small talk. He just nodded, following your eyes to the fish that had your attention. Link smiled to himself and reached slowly to grab your hand. The action surprised you, but you didn't pull away as he began pulling you gently away from the pond.

“Link? Where are we going?” you asked, although you didn't get an answer. He lead you all the way back to the hotel, around the side of the building. He only let go of your hand to climb a ladder up to the roof, hoping you would follow him. Which you did. You were a little confused, but he was your boyfriend, so you trusted him and followed him up the ladder rungs without hesitation. Once at the top he waited for you to pull yourself up onto the rock. The view wasn’t far, but it sure was beautiful. Gerudo Town was in the distance, surrounded by a sea of sand that seemed to roll like waves when the wind blew. You were alone up here, and Link let you over to the middle of the rock, where you both sat down. You watched Link for a while as he stared out at the sand. His eyebrows were knitted and he occasionally bit at his lip.

“Link…?” You spoke up. He seemed to snap out of a trance as he looked at you. He smiled sheepishly. “I...um…” you stopped mid-sentence, losing the words in your throat. You looked out at the sands, not sure what to say. Link did the same, but the silence didn’t last long.

“Did a monster attack you? Was I not there to protect you?” Link asked. You turned to face him and was met with a heartbroken expression.

“What? No! What would make you think that anything like that happened?” You responded. You knew what he was trying to ask about, and deep down you really didn’t want to tell him the truth. But the look on his face was killing you on the inside. “Link, I promise that you have nothing to do with this. None of it is your fault,” you explained to him, trying to hop around the truth for just a little longer. He stared at you.

“Then what happened?” he asked, his voice not much above a whisper. You glanced to the side, wincing slightly at his question. You tried to contain yourself, knowing that the more you ignored answering the more worried Link was going to get, and the more he’d keep asking. But you had never planned to tell anybody and didn't even know how to explain it to someone as good-hearted as Link. you looked back over at him, chewing on your lip nervously.

“I...i…um…” you tried to find your words, but your mind was tied into a knot, your thoughts being scrambled together.

“(Y/N) I only want to help, you know that. I would never force you to do anything, but I can't help if you won't talk to me.” Link spoke clearly and calmly, hiding his worriedness better than you could hide your nervousness. You took a deep breath and decided that there was only one way this conversation was going to end.

“They’re...um...they’re from...me.” you quietly told Link. once you finished your sentence you quickly looked in the opposite direction, your heart pounding through your chest. It was silent for a moment, and you thought that maybe Link hadn’t heard you, but then he broke the silence.

“Can...can I see them?” he asked softly. You turned to look at him, tears brewing up in your eyes. Link sat still patiently, never taking his eyes off of yours until you answered. At first, you wanted to say no, telling him already hurt enough, but when you looked back at those big bright blue puppy-dog eyes, you felt safe. Just being around Link made you feel that warm fuzzy feeling on the inside, made you feel like you were never alone and that no matter what, even during moments like this one, Link would always care for you and love you and make sure you were safe. 

So after a long moment of thinking, you slowly nodded, tearing your gaze from his and focusing on your wrists. Your hands were shaking, making the removal of the bandages a little difficult, but Link never made a move to help you, knowing that this was something you needed to do yourself. Plus he didn't want to make you any more uncomfortable than you already were. Link watched as your skin was exposed piece by piece, and he tried his hardest not to wince or make any noise when the marked skin was exposed as well. Most scars were little more than pale pink lines that littered your forearms, but some, mostly the ones closer to your wrists, were an angry red. Some were small, barely bigger than the size of a fingernail, but others were long and deep. Once the bandages were completely off, the whole length of both of your arms exposed, you just sat there silently staring off into the sandy distance. Part of you immediately regretted your decision of agreeing to this and wanted to hide your arms, but another part of you felt relieved that now there wasn't some deep dark secret you had to try so hard to keep hidden. You sneaked a glance at Link, only to see that he had looked away as well.

“Link…?” you called out quietly to him, folding your arms into your lap. He still didn't look at you, but instead fiddled with a piece of his shirt.

“When...when was the last?” he asked.

“...a few days ago,” you mumbled softly.

“A few days ago we were at the stable. I was with you there.” Link recalled.

“Mhm.” was the only response you could think of.

“...why didn’t you come to me then? I could’ve helped you sooner…” Link looked at you for a moment, and you caught a glimpse of him holding back tears before he looked away again. Guilt was eating away at you on the inside, but somewhere in your mind, you knew this was the right thing to do.

“I...i couldn’t Link. you’re already so busy, and you’re trying to save the entire kingdom of Hyrule here. I didn't want you to have to worry about me any more than usual.” you told him. It was the truth, well, at least a part of it. Link turned to face you, not looking away this time. He looked so distraught, and tears began to slowly fall down his face. Your own tears almost began to fall once you saw how upset he looked.

“Do you seriously think that I wouldn't put you first?” he asked you, although you were a little confused at the question.

“...isn't the princess and the kingdom more important than just one little person like me?” you hadn’t meant to sound so harsh, but it was the truth to you. You were just one person, Hyrule contained thousands of people and multiple villages. 

“Saving Zelda, defeating the calamity, they’re important tasks, yes.” Link paused. You looked away, assuming he was agreeing with your previous statement.  
“But…” he continued as he grabbed your hands, lacing your fingers together, being careful not to touch any fresh scars. You stared at his hands as he moved yours.  
“None of it means anything to me if you’re not there with me the whole way,” he said, a small smile peeking through his lips. You finally broke at his words. Tears began to pour from your eyes like a river and you fell forward into Link’s chest, holding onto his shirt. He wrapped his arms around you, cradling you in his lap. You two sat there in silence while you cried, Link softly rubbing circles into your back. Once your sobs turned into small sniffles he gently lifted your chin up so you two were face to face. You found it hard to look at him after everything that had just happened, but you tried your best to not look away.

“Promise me you won’t do it again. And if you do feel like doing it, come to me first. Okay?” he softly asked. You nodded.

“Promise,” you whispered, your throat now hurt a little from sobbing so much. You two sweetly smiled at each other before you laid your head back down into his chest and he laid his head on top of yours, holding you gently, but firmly, in a secure hug while the sun began to set behind you two. As you two sat there, Link vowed to himself that he would always protect you, even if he had to protect you from yourself.


End file.
